Learning in Law Annual Conference 2008: (Dis)integration...designs on the law curriculum

Reports and links to papers on critique at the Learning in Law Annual Conference 2008:

• So now that you have a law school, what do you do with it? – Chris Gale (University of Bradford) and Roger Kay (University of Chester) read report below.
• The Government of Wales Act 2006: the challenges for legal education – Richard Owen (University of Glamorgan) read full paper
• Adapting law school learning to the 21st century: constructing improved learning environments – Catherine Dunham and Steven Friedland (Elon University School of Law, USA) read full paper
• Changing the ‘strange opinion’: replacing lectures and integrating i-tutorials – Scott Slorach (College of Law) read report below
• Responding to expectation? Student perceptions and motivations for studying law – Kathryn Dutton and Philip Hunter (University of Chester) read report below.
• Enhancing the student experience and improving retention rates – Simon Brooman (Liverpool John Moores University) read report below.

So now that you have a law school, what do you do with it?

As founders of two new law schools (Bradford and Chester respectively) Chris and Roger were well placed to discuss this question. They shared their early experiences in setting up a new law school at LILI 2006 (see Chris’ report on the Bradford experience), when the debate widened into a theoretical discussion of how to run, and in what direction to steer, virtually any law school, touching on the purpose of the law degree, the future of legal education, the academic/vocational interface and the management drivers inherent in universities and law schools. In this session the presenters sought to reflect on the intervening two years and to begin to look to the future.

Both started from very humble beginnings, but now operate a qualifying law degree and have responsibility for (Chester) or involvement with
(Bradford) combined honours degrees. Bradford has validated a Graduate Diploma in Law to run from September 2008, but with the first intake of LLB students now in their final year, more law schools being set up and competition for students becoming more intense the future direction and strategies for the development of law schools are taking higher places on the agenda. Should development of new courses be a priority, or simply the entrenchment of what is already there? How can institutional demands for increased income be met? How can appeal be broadened to a wider audience of potential students?

Back in 2005 Chris had established a ‘presence of lawyers’ at Bradford. This humble collective noun represented four bodies, to which another four were added the following year. By 2007 there were a total of 11, teaching all three years of the LLB programme. Student numbers started at 50, all found through Clearing, and by the third year of intake this had risen to 105. Required grades were 260 A level points or equivalent, and have not dropped. Almost all the students come from West Yorkshire.

Discussions are on-going with regard to expansion – a Graduate Diploma in Law is a low risk option as the staff are in place, but an LLM would be more of a risk. If the latter, should it be generalist (both Leeds universities run these) or specialist? It is proposed to establish a firm research base and then decide on an area of expertise for the LLM. The law school is to be integrated into the School of Management. Good contacts are being made with local lawyers, and the law school is slowly extending its reputation.

The law school at Chester was in some ways a more structured launch than Bradford, but has had a more stormy ride. The College of Law just down the road has meant that the new law school has had a limited impact. The law school kicked off with 4.8 staff, which has now risen to 9.4. (Roger has changed role, meaning he is not available for as much as teaching as before). One member of staff came – and went – within six months, so there has been less stability than at Bradford.

Student numbers are similar. It was originally planned to recruit 40 LLB and 20 ‘combined’ students, all scoring 260 points. In the event in 2005 there were 67 LLB and 38 combined students in year 1. By the time this cohort reached year three the LLB students were down to the high 50s and a large number had dropped out of the combined degree. In 2006 entry points were raised to 280, 92 LLB students were recruited and 40 combined students. In 2007 entry points rose to 300 and there were 92 LLB students, including 10 returning from the previous year. Attendance has improved over the years.

A Graduate Diploma in Law is not planned (the College of Law is just down the road…), but discussions are ongoing about a possible LLM. Research active staff have been recruited, and three have entered the Social Policy field in the Research Assessment Exercise. The programme has been tweaked in terms of credit ratings (modules have moved from 15 to 20 credits) and moved from semesters to year through. The school has recently been rebranded as the University of Chester Law School and also relocated from the Business School to the Faculty of Social Sciences.

An animated discussion followed the presentations, again stimulating wider debate into the future of legal education and encompassing matters of direct relevance to all law schools. With so many new law schools (others include Aston, Canterbury Christ Church, Cumbria, York) it is difficult to know in which direction to go. Should law schools seek internal autonomy – or not? And what about future competition from Tesco Law School?

Changing the ‘strange opinion’: replacing lectures and integrating i-tutorials

“People have now-a-days got a strange opinion that everything should be taught by lectures.”

— Samuel Johnson

Whilst legal education has come a long way in embracing new forms of learning and teaching, lectures remain the foundation of most programmes. Given that student retention levels from lectures have been shown to be low, what alternatives are available?

Scott presented the results of a three year project integrating i-Tutorials into the College of Law’s Legal Practice Course, updating a report on the College’s e-learning initiatives at UKCLE’s Vocational Teachers Forum in 2004. i-Tutorials, online learning resources incorporating video and audio presentations, graphics, interactive exercises with feedback and a range of background legal and practical resources, have replaced around 200 lectures on the LPC, in one of the largest projects in legal education in the UK in recent years.

A number of factors affect the success of such a major curriculum development, including the need for a ‘whole course’ design ethos, the design of the new learning media, and the importance of clear communications with both students and tutors to facilitate their engagement. An evaluation of student feedback on the i-Tutorials led to an evolution both in their design and in the guidance provided to students on maximising the learning opportunities.

The project has resulted in a fundamental change in students’ learning approaches, as well as some unexpected outcomes, including the potential carbon footprint reductions which can be achieved through the provision of flexible learning media!

Responding to expectation? Student perceptions and motivations for studying law

Student motivations for, and, more recently, student expectations of, undergraduate study are important critical foci within educational literature, and in recent years the commodification and commercialisation of learning has led to increased pressure upon programme providers to meet the expectations of student consumers.

These issues have particular pertinence for undergraduate law programmes. The provision of the qualifying law degree ensures that many students enter their undergraduate studies with the understanding that the programme is one step towards achieving their ambition to join the legal profession, however it is arguable that these student motivations and expectations are often far removed from the legal academy’s perceptions of the true value and purpose of undergraduate law study.

Kathryn and Philip presented early findings from the Responding to expectation research study, which aims to explore the expectation-reality gap for undergraduate law students and to address some of the hitherto (empirically) unanswered questions concerning the ‘real’ reasons students come to study law at university and what exactly they expect from their study.

Full understanding of the extent to which student perceptions of the purpose of undergraduate law study deviate from the perceptions of those guiding their study will not be possible until this empirical information is gathered and subjected to detailed analysis. Only then will it be possible for the legal academy to address the issues arising from the clash of ideologies and to design programmes that can provide some acceptable reconciliation between the expectations of contemporary students and those of legal academics.

Enhancing the student experience and improving retention rates

In his paper Simon gave an overview of the successful retention strategy at Liverpool John Moores, which uses a combination of approaches including a reflective essay – find out more in Simon’s article Retention of law students: what works?, which appeared in the Spring 2007 issue of Directions.

During the period 1998-2002 first year retention rates on the law programme at Liverpool John Moores were averaging at around 75% over three years, leading to some serious moral and financial issues concerning ‘lost students’. In 2002 a new programme of measures was introduced with the aim of improving the engagement and performance of first year students, consisting of a radical overhaul of the student experience in the early weeks of the LLB. Based on the wealth of research examining the early learning experience of first year students a front-loaded support module, enhanced pastoral support and early assessment feedback was introduced. Student perceptions and evaluation were a crucial part of the development of the new initiatives – both before and after implementation, and two student surveys directly influenced the development of the programme.

Following the introduction of the new initiatives retention rates have increased, particularly for part time students, however no single change to the student experience can act as a panacea for student retention. What is required is a sometimes uncomfortable and significant shift in underlying learning and teaching culture and to tackle all levels of the student experience. Changing the curriculum was the first step in changing the student experience, but other elements also influence the overall student experience.

Last Modified: 9 July 2010